In recent years, advances in technology have led to substantial changes in the design of automotive vehicles. Modern vehicles include a number of electronic components, such as, for example, engine control units (ECUs), traction control systems, power steering systems, braking systems, climate control systems, navigation systems, infotainment systems, and the like. Additionally, modern vehicles often are capable of supporting communications to/from external components, for example, via external communications networks (e.g., cellular networks, wireless networks, personal area networks, or the like) or a physical interface (e.g., a bus interface or the like).
During the lifetime of a vehicle, it may be desirable to reprogram or otherwise update one or more of the vehicle electronic components, for example, to support or otherwise provide new features and/or functionality or to resolve potential issues with existing features and/or functionality. Allowing vehicles to receive updates or otherwise be reprogrammed from an external component poses numerous cybersecurity risks. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide systems and methods for securely programming vehicle electronic components while minimizing vulnerability or susceptibility to cyberattacks. Other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.